VOICE OF THE PEOPLE | December 19, 2012

Published December 18, 2012 - 5:27pm Last Updated December 19, 2012 - 6:16am

Rally appropriate, signs not

Regarding “Swastikas at rally denounced” (Dec. 13): I represent Independent Jewish Voices, a human rights organization active in Halifax and eight Canadian cities. The swastika signs held by two demonstrators (out of several hundred people) at the Nov. 17 rally were unsuitable and in poor taste. Israel’s Gaza bombing horrified the world and speaks for itself. But the point doesn’t require embellishment and is not helped by a symbol so hurtful to Jews, whatever the intent. It also incorrectly blames all Jews for the actions of a political state which purports to, but doesn’t, act in our name.

Several of us attended the rally to oppose Israel’s actions. We also disapproved of the swastika signs. But not forcefully enough. However, afterward we met with several demonstrators (not the sign-holders, with whom we are not familiar) to plan a vigil a week later to commemorate the close to 150 dead (including five Israelis). Using the offending signs as a learning moment, we explained the inappropriateness of the swastika. I noted that my own father was a survivor of Auschwitz.

The next week’s Gaza vigil contained no such signs. Moreover, we and the others are committed to ensuring that swastika signs do not recur.

An opportunity to deepen intercultural understanding resulted, much more constructive than using those events to stifle legitimate criticism of Israel’s actions and spray insults on several organizations, as some have tried to do.

Larry Haiven, Halifax

Defend our neighbours

Halifax has been home for a few years and it is with an overwhelming sense of comfort and safety that I walk around the city wearing my small knitted yarmulkah (Jewish skullcap) on my head. I feel privileged to be a part of the multicultural, ethnically diverse, and pluralistic society that exists in Halifax.

Today, though, having learned of the appearance of swastikas at the anti-war rally in downtown Halifax a few weeks ago, I am shaken to my core. Is it possible that Haligonians walked by choosing to turn a blind eye? Is it possible that Haligonians who cherish the freedoms of multiculturalism in our society remained indifferent upon seeing the swastikas displayed in downtown Halifax?

Nobel Laureate and Holocaust surviver Elie Wiesel said: “It is awkward, troublesome to be involved in another person’s pain and despair. Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbour are of no consequence. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. Their anguish is of no interest. Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction. Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor.

We need to defend and protect our neighbours. Let us strive to be better than we were on that cold day in November when swastikas were flown, unchallenged, in downtown Halifax.

Rabbi Ari Isenberg, spiritual leader,

Shaar Shalom Congregation, Halifax

Life is no game

On Saturday, I watched a television report which referred to Adam Lanza, the Newtown, Conn., shooter, as a “computer savvy loner who lived with his mother.” After watching this report, I wondered if he was also an avid fan of video games.

Now I wonder if and when the public, governments and the video game industry itself will finally address the issue of “first-person shooter” video games, and the potential they have to influence the minds and behaviours of all gamers. Most of the time, this type of “entertainment” functions as a military-style combat simulator which teaches its target audience (primarily children and young adults) virtually everything about combat weaponry, body armour, explosives, etc. So, why is the multi-million-dollar-a-year video game industry continuously absolved of any and all responsibility for the violent acts carried out by delusional “lone wolves”?

Regardless, I believe that video game reviewer Neil MacFarlane’s Dec. 15 description of the Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Halo 4 video games as “both [slaking] the thirst of millions of online gamers looking for a way to virtually destroy friends and strangers across the world in 2012” is not only quite telling, but solidifies my point exactly.

Jason B. Fraser, Bridgewater

Workers will remember

The latest report from the Harper government is that CPP will be reviewed by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. The last review and decision by Human Resources Minister Diane Finley on Employment Insurance was very damaging to recipients of EI, the very people it was designed to help. Any way her department spins it, the damage is still there.

Employers and employees pay into an EI fund that is supposed to help people financially when they lose their jobs due to lack of work. EI is not government money to spend as they see fit. CPP is not government money either. It is also funded by workers past and present.

This government seems to think that only government employees are “entitled to their entitlements,” to quote a once-famous politician from Cape Breton.

The winds from Ottawa are blowing harshly on the working people of this country. Hurricane Harper should stop and remember a former Tory leader, drunk with power, relegated his majority party to two seats when his wind died down. This PM should not forget that these same workers, past and present, will remember come voting day.

Jack Sutherland, St. Peters

Missed the real story

I read the weekend articles on the big drug bust. Isn’t it amazing that some of the people involved were everyday people, just like you and me, contributing members of society? I wonder why you never print the other side of the story. Poll after poll in Canada comes up with the same result: over 70 per cent in favour of legalizing marijuana; over 80 per cent admit to using it at some point.

No wonder you can net all these everyday people. They are in the majority in Canada and in the U.S.

Why don’t you report on the failed drug policies of the Harper regime or the total mess it has made of the medical marijuana program? A mess that the Supreme Court of Canada recognizes and has ordered the government to change. Instead of getting the real story, you consistently print the sensationalized form that is spoon-fed to you by law enforcement officials who, for the most part, are using the bust for career advancement — the more press, the more advancement.

Now, I’ve got a good story for you — not even sensationalized! It’s called “What happened to democracy in Canada?” Instead of putting people in jail, let’s put it to a vote once and for all.

George W. Kimber, Stewiacke

Lack of leadership

Re: “Group: Stop gestation cages” (Dec. 11). The comments of David Smith, vice-president of sustainability for Sobeys, stating that the company is not prepared to make a “unilateral declaration” on the issue, demonstrates a disappointing lack of leadership.

Pork farm abuse is all the more disturbing when one realizes that the workers who committed these acts at a Manitoba pork farm are free to live in their community, having not been charged with the crime of animal cruelty. I refuse to purchase meat products from supermarkets in future until I see evidence of much more integrity in the system.